Venezuelan War of Independence

The Venezuelan War of Independence was fought from 1810 to 1823 when Venezuela fought for its independence from the Spanish Empire during the South American Wars of Liberation.

History
In 1808, the French emperor Napoleon I invaded Spain and ousted the Bourbon king Fernando VII of Spain from power, installing his own brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne. This created a power vacuum in the Spanish Empire's possessions in the Americas, and, on 19 April 1810, the municipal council of Caracas deposed the Spanish governor and Captain-General Vicente Emparan, creating a junta. Soon, other Venezuelan provinces followed suit, and de facto civil war ensued as the provinces sided either with the pro-independence "patriots" or the pro-Spain "royalists".

In November 1810, civil war broke out between the patriots and the royalists, and an 1811 royalist uprising in Valencia was suppressed. On 5 July 1811, led by Francisco de Miranda, Venezuela declared independence from Spain. In 1812, however, the Spanish set up a blockade of Venezuela, and an earthquake devastated the young country. Domingo de Monteverde led a royalist reaction, which defeated the patriots at the Battle of San Mateo; on 25 July 1812, Miranda was forced to sign an armistice with Monteverde. However, Simon Bolivar and other republicans continued the resistance from other parts of South America and the Caribbean, while guerrilla warfare continued from the interior. In 1813, Bolivar joined New Granada's army, and he led a liberating force into Venezuela in the "Admirable Campaign". At the same time, Santiago Marino invaded from the northeast in an independently organized campaign, and Bolivar, after winning a series of battles, entered Caracas on 6 August 1813. Bolivar proclaimed the restoration of the republic with himself at its head, and, while the Cumana-based Marino refused to accept this, he continued to collaborate with Bolivar.

The criollos of La Plata and New Granada went on to oust the Spanish authorities with relative ease, and the autonomous movement swept through New Granada. The important llanero leader Jose Boves initiated a widespread pardo movement against the elite-led restored republic, and the royalists defeated Bolivar and Marino's combined forces in 1814. Boves died shortly thereafter in battle, but the country had been restored to royalist control once again. That same year, the Bourbon monarchy was restored to power in Spain, freeing up their armies. Pablo Morillo and a large Spanish expeditionary force were shipped across the Atlantic to Venezuela and New Granada, and royalist forces captured Cartagena and Bogota in 1816. Morrillo decommissioned most of the late Boves' former llanero forces, many of whom were forced to join the patriots instead. Bolivar returned from Haiti to Isla de Margarita in Venezuela, and Marino captured Cumana in 1817. Bolivar was forced to retreat to Haiti after Francisco Tomas Morales' larger royalist army attacked his republican force, and the republican patriot forces dispersed and waged local guerrilla wars against the royalists. Bolivar went to the Llanos (plains) and joined forces with the new llanero leader, Jose Antonio Paez, and the republicans came to control the underpopulated southern plains of Venezuela, while the royalists controlled the highly populated urban north.

From 1816 to 1819, stalemate set in. Bolivar headed to Angostura on the Orinoco River, where he was joined by British veterans of the Napoleonic Wars - they went on to form the core of the "British Legion". In 1819, Bolivar proclaimed the creation of Gran Colombia, and, that same year, he invaded New Granada to break the impasse. Bolivar decisively defeated the royalists at the Battle of Boyaca, freeing Colombia, and, in 1821, Bolivar's Gran Colombian army was again victorious at the Battle of Carabobo. Cumana fell shortly after the Gran Colombian victory, and Puerto Ceballo - the last royalist stronghold in Peru - fell in October 1823. A Spanish fleet sent to reconquer Venezuela was defeated at Lake Maracaibo in 1823, and the Venezuelan forces would go on to assist in the liberation of the rest of South America.